I want to insert it onto a page. I clicked upload/insert then inserted it as I would a photo but it will not play on the site unless the person actually clicks on the image. Is there a way of making it start playing just as soon as the page loads?

Hello try to load the image on the theme > images folder not on the WordPress image upload. WordPress is cropping the image that is why it is not animating. Then insert the image with the src=http://towardsparenthood.org.au/wp-content/themes/broadscope/images/gifimage.gif. Something like that.